2026 Bookish Books Reading Challenge (hosted by Yours Truly)
2026 Cover Lovers Reading Challenge (hosted by Yours Truly)
2026 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge
2026 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge
Booklist Queen's 2026 Reading Challenge
2026 52 Club Reading Challenge
2026 Craving for Cozies Reading Challenge
2026 Medical Examiner Mystery Reading Challenge
2026 Mount TBR Reading Challenge
2026 Around the Year in 52 Books Reading Challenge
Shelf Reflection Candy Reading Challenge for Kids (and Adults)
2026 Countdown Reading Challenge
Dragon Rambles' Law of Fives Bingo
2026 Southern Literary Reading Challenge
2026 Reading Challenge (by Linz the Bookworm)
2026 Pioneer Book Reading Challenge
European Reading Challenge 2026
2017 Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge (retired challenge - doing old boards for fun)
2026 Reading Challenge Addict Reading Challenge
The 100 Most Common Last Names in the U.S. Reading Challenge
The Life Skills Reading Challenge
Friday, January 06, 2023
Green's Newest WWII Novel Uplifting and Edifying
(Image from Barnes & Noble)
When Avis Montgomery's older brother goes off to war, he makes her promise to keep open the small, private library where he is head librarian. Avis is shocked by the charge. Not only is she a married woman (even with lots of women entering the workforce while all the men are away, it's still scandalous for a wife to labor outside the home), but she doesn't even like to read! Surely, Anthony has chosen the wrong person to replace him.
Anthony hasn't been gone long when Louise Cavendish, the steely heiress who owns the library, decides the place needs to be turned into something more useful. Desperate not to let her brother down, Avis invents a reason to keep the library open on the fly: she's started a town book club that needs to use library resources. Since she's actually done no such thing, she must pull off the impossible in a short amount of time—with Louise's narrowed eyes watching her every move. Gathering every warm body she can find, reader or not, Avis launches her tentative book club. Suddenly she is forced to start reading the novels she's always eschewed while also learning how to lead a club that is somehow becoming an essential part of her small Maine community.
The book club brings together Martina Bianchini, a single mother who works at the munitions factory to make ends meet and lives in fear of her estranged husband; Ginny Atkins, a spitfire who will do anything (including recruiting book club members) to earn the money she needs to buy back the land the Navy appropriated from her family on her beloved Long Island; Freddy Keats, a handsome one-eyed war vet with a mysterious past; and Louise, who watches the proceedings with a critical eye, determined to shut down the library despite Avis's efforts to keep it running. As the members meet regularly, what started as a wartime diversion becomes an important lifeline during a time of worry and upheaval. What will happen to the little group if Louise shuts it down? How will any of them survive the war without the one thing that's keeping them all sane?
As soon as I heard about The Blackout Book Club, Amy Lynn Green's newest offering, I knew I wanted to read it. The novel appealed on so many levels: an interesting World War II setting, bookish themes, and an author whose writing I admire. Since I really enjoyed Green's last effort (The Lines Between Us), I went into this one with high exprectations. Probably too high, because I didn't end up loving The Blackout Book Club quite as much as I wanted to. Still, I liked it overall. It's a gentle novel that is clean, uplifting, and heartwarming. That makes it sound like a cheesy inspirational read, which it's not. What it is is a good, wholesome book that's engaging and well-written. Our quartet of women narrators are all sympathetic and likable, with some being more memorable than others. My favorite is Ginny, who's got a whole lot of heart to go along with her spunky, fun-loving personality. Green's prose is warm and skilled. Plotwise, the novel gets a little slow at times, but there was enough going on to keep me reading. So, while The Blackout Book Club didn't blow my socks off, I still found it to be a pleasurable read that is touching, entertaining, and edifying.
Note: Amy Lynn Green is a writer of Christian fiction. Although The Blackout Book Club technically falls into this genre, it's really not a religious book. There are references to church attendance, wearing a crucifix, and praying, but the mentions are brief. What I'm trying to say is, if you're not a fan of preachy religious fiction, you have no reason to worry!
(Readalikes: Reminds me of Jennifer Ryan's World War II novels, especially The Kitchen Front)
Grade:
If this were a movie, it would be rated:
for violence and scenes of peril
To the FTC, with love: I received a copy of The Blackout Book Club from the generous folks at Bethany House Publishers in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!
Tuesday, January 03, 2023
Top Ten Tuesday: My Favorite Reads of 2022
Happy New Year! I've been working hard over the past few days to transition everything on my blog from 2022 to 2023. 2022 was kind of a ho-hum reading year for me. I'm hoping for better in 2023. May all of us find some great books to enjoy this year and share with each other.
For today's TTT topic, we're looking back at our favorite reads of 2022. I didn't read a lot of five-star, A-grade books last year, but I did manage to come up with ten that I loved. We'll get to that in a sec.
Before we do that, be sure to click on over to That Artsy Reader Girl and give our lovely hostess, Jana, some love. While you're there, get all the details about TTT so you can join in the fun!
Top Ten Favorite Books of 2022
- in no particular order -
1. The Kitchen Front by Jennifer Ryan—I've read most of Ryan's novels and enjoyed them all. This one features four English women from different walks of life who find themselves vying for an alluring prize in a BBC-sponsored baking competition. This is a warm book filled with likable characters and a whole lot of heart. Since the contest is focused on making appetizing food from ration book ingredients, it's one food-centered book that did not make me hungry! LOL.
2. I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys—Sepetys is one of my favorite writers of historical YA novels, so it's no surprise this book, her newest, was my most memorable read of 2023. I Must Betray You tells a grim story about a Romanian teenager living in poverty under the tyrannical reign of President Nicolae Ceausescu. When he is caught by the secret police for a minor infraction, Cristian is forced to become an informer. He tries to use his unique position to undermine the government instead, but joining the revolution just might cost him everything he holds dear. Is it worth it?
The stark tone of this novel deftly echoes Cristian's gut-wrenching experiences with fear, paranoia, helplessness, and desperation. It's not a happy book with a neat ending, but it is illuminating, powerful, and important.
3. Buried in a Good Book by Tamara Berry—I loved this first installment in a new cozy mystery series becuase it's just so much fun. It stars a bestselling thriller writer who's in desperate need of a getaway after her divorce. Tess drags her unhappy teenaged daughter with her when she retreats to her grandfather's rustic cabin in the woods for a summer of off-the-grid relaxation. The duo has barely stepped through the door when an explosion rocks the forest, shattering any R&R illusions, and propelling them into an intriguing real-life murder investigation.
4. Any Other Family by Eleanor Brown—This novel features three women who have all adopted children from the same birthmother. Although the adoptive mothers are very different from one another, Tabitha—the pushiest of them—insists they, their children, and their partners should be one big, happy family so that their kids can remain close to their biological half-siblings. Tensions are already high as they all gather for a long summer getaway, but things get even more complicated when the birthmother calls with the news that she is pregnant again and wants one of them to adopt the baby.
Brown is an adoptive mother herself, so Any Other Family feels especially intimate and authentic. I saw myself and my own experience with adopting a child in each of the three birthmothers. At the same time, the novel helped me see adoption in new ways. For these reasons and more, I quite enjoyed this heartwarming story.
5. The Girls With No Names by Serena Burdick—In Gilded Age New York City, the Tildon sisters live lives of wealth and privilege. When they accidentally stumble upon a shocking secret about their father, Luella, the oldest sister, becomes smug, acting out as she pleases. When the young woman mysteriously disappears from home one day, Effie fears Mr. Tildon has made good on his threat to admit Luella to the House of Mercy, an asylum for wayward girls that looms not far from the Tildons' luxurious home. Desperate to free her sister, Effie gets herself committed. It doesn't take her long, however, to realize that she has made a grave miscalculation which leaves her stuck in the cold, unloving embrace of a stark institution that is no kind of home. How can she save herself, let alone her sister?
Grim and heartbreaking, The Girls With No Names is also illuminating, empowering, and moving. Despite its harsh subject matter, it's also surprisingly hopeful.
6. New From Here by Kelly Yang—I've read a few children's books lately about the COVID-19 pandemic and this one captured the experience best for me. The story concerns Knox Wei-Evans, a 10-year-old boy from a mixed-race family (his mother is Chinese-American and his father is a white American) that has been living in Hong Kong. As things worsens in Asia, Knox's parents make the difficult decision to move most of the family to their summer home in California to be on the safe side. Knox's father has to stay behind in Asia to work, while his mother herds him and his two siblings back to the U.S. Divided across two continents, the family has to deal with food shortages, financial problems, missing each other, job loss, quarantine, etc. As Asian-Americans, they also experience targeted racism that frightens and angers them. Will the all the conflict and division tear their family apart completely?
Based on the author's family's own experience during the pandemic, New From Here is a very intimate portrayal of how COVID-19 affected families, especially those with Asian roots. There are some far-fetched scenes in the book that stretched my willing suspension of disbelief, but for the most part, I found this novel to be tender, moving, engrossing, and thought-provoking.
7. The Maid by Nita Prose—Molly Gray loves nothing more than order and tidiness, which makes her perfect for her job as a housekeeper at a grand hotel. She doesn't relate well to people, though, so when a murder occurs at her workplace, her odd behavior immediately makes her a suspect. Her keen eye for detail makes her especially good at detecting, a skill she will need if she hopes to clear her name.
This fun, engrossing murder mystery deserves all the hype it has received. It's clever, entertaining, hopeful, and just all-around enjoyable.
8. Only the Beautiful by Susan Meissner—I love Meissner's immersive, dual-timeline novels and this one, her newest, is one of my favorites. It takes place at a vineyard in California, where a young vinedresser is living and working after her parents are killed in an accident. The owners of the vineyard are raising Rosanne as something between a daughter and a housekeeper. When she becomes pregnant, the vineyard owners throw her out, leaving her to find her own way. A decade later, a concerned relative comes looking for Rosanne and her child. Horrified by what she discovers, Helen Calvert is determined to make things right.
With a focus on eugenics and special needs children, Only the Beautiful is both heart-wrenching and thought-provoking. It asks important questions while telling an engrossing, moving story.
9. Ghost by Jason Reynolds—I've been meaning to read Reynolds for years, but it took me until the end of 2022 to finally do it. Ghost is the first book in Reynolds' middle-grade Track series, which concerns a group of kids who come together to compete on an elite, inner-city track-and-field team. Castle "Ghost" Cranshaw knows how to run. Having a violent, alcoholic father taught him that. He's never run on a team, though, so when he happens upon a track practice, he's fascinated. When the coach takes Ghost under his wing and allows him to walk on to the team, Ghost gets the chance to channel all his pent-up anger into becoming a star athlete. Can he learn enough self-mastery to earn a real place on the team?
Ghost is so full of heart that you can't help but love it. I especially enjoyed listening to the book (and the whole series, actually) on audio. The narrator, Guy Lockard, brings a fun and poignant Will Smith-like voice to the story that adds an appealing layer to an already excellent novel.
10. Yonder by Ali Standish—Set in Appalachia during World War II, this middle-grade novel is about the friendship between Danny Timmons and Jack Bailey. Jack has been the town hero ever since his heroic efforts saved two children from drowning. Danny has always looked up to the older boy, so when Jack mysteriously vanishes, he's concerned. Did Jack's father beat him one too many times? Has Jack run away to Yonder, the magical town he always talked about where everyone is friendly and there's no war? As Danny desperately searches for answers to his friend's disappearance, he begins to wonder if he ever really knew Jack at all.
Yonder is a beautiful, contemplative novel that asks important questions about courage, heroism, war, and friendship.
There you are, ten of my favorite books from 2022. Have you read any of them? Which titles did you enjoy reading most last year? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will return the favor on your blog.
Happy TTT!
Monday, January 02, 2023
The Bookish Books Reading Challenge: January Book Ideas and Link Up for Reviews
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Welcome to the Bookish Books Reading Challenge! I'm so excited to be launching this challenge. It's going to be a good time.
At the beginning of each month, I will make a post highlighting the books I plan to read for the challenge and providing a place for participants to link up our reviews. Reviews aren't required for the challenge, but it's always fun to see what everyone else is reading and which bookish books are/aren't worth reading. It's also nice to give some love to our fellow participants by interacting with them and their reviews. So, please link up those reviews. I, for one, will read every one that is posted.
My goal is to be "Living in the Library" by reading 30+ bookish books. In order to achieve that number, I'll try to read 2-3 a month. Here are the ones I'm planning to read in January:
The Blackout Book Club by Amy Lynn Green—This historical novel about a woman who becomes an unlikely librarian in Maine during World War II sounds intriguing.
The Littlest Library by Poppy Alexander—Amazon had this one on Kindle for $1.99, so I snatched it up. It's about a grieving woman who opens a library in an old red phone box, bringing a town together and comfort to her own soul.
Booked for Trouble by Eva Gates—I enjoyed the first book in this cozy mystery series, so I'm looking forward to the second.
Reading the Stars from Book Riot—I'm not a believer in horoscropes and astrology, but I still think they're fun. When combined with books? Irresistible!
What bookish books are you planning to read this month?
Challenge participants: Please leave a link for your January reviews using the widget below.
Saturday, December 31, 2022
Out With the Old Challenges, In With the New
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It's no secret that I love reading challenges. They bring an added measure of fun to my reading, expand my literary horizons, and let me connect with like-minded book lovers. I love meeting my challenge goals, but I don't beat myself up if I fail spectacularly. They're just for fun and that's exactly how I treat them.
This year, I took on 13 challenges. How did I do? Let's see:
(Challenge links go to the 2022 challenges. See list below for 2023 links.)
1. Literary Escapes Challenge: I read books set in 50 states + Washington, D.C. + 17 countries. Ba bam! Rocked it.
FYI, the top 3 states I visited most were: New York (11 books), California (8 books), and Massachusetts (7 books). The foreign country I visited most was England (18 books), with Ireland, Egypt, Australia, and Scotland tying for second place with three books each.
2. Historical Fiction Reading Challenge: I joined this challenge at the "Prehistoric" level, which required reading 50+ historical fiction books. I managed 39. Not too bad!
3. Craving for Cozies Reading Challenge: My "Peckish" level required me to read 1-25 cozy mysteries this year. I rocked it with 26. Boo and yeah.
4. Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge: I joined this one at the highest level, which involved reading 56+ mystery books. Devouring mysteries is never a challenge for me; I read 81.
5. Booklist Queen's Reading Challenge: This challenge has 52 reading prompts, some easy, some not so much. I've still got four to go, so I won't finish this one this year.
6. Aussie Author Reading Challenge: I was really excited for this challenge, which involved reading and reviewing books by Australian authors. Although I did manage to read five books for the challenge, I only reviewed one. I didn't get anywhere close to the 25 that were required for the "Emu" level. Oops!
7. Nonfiction Reading Challenge: Pushing myself was my goal with this challenge, so I joined at the "Nonfiction Grazer" level. I grazed less than I planned, reading 12 non-fiction books and reviewing only three of them. I mean, at least I read more non-fiction than I would have without the challenge, right?
8. POPSUGAR Reading Challenge: This annual challenge really is a challenge for me. I've taken it on for several years now and never finished it. 2022 will not be the year I complete it, although I did come close. Of the 50 prompts (10 of which are "Advanced"), I got all but 5. Not bad at all, really.
9. Build Your Library Reading Challenge: Boom! I rocked this one as well, finishing all 40 of the reading prompts.
10. The 52 Club's Reading Challenge: Another 52-prompt challenge, this one gave me some trouble. I finished all but 4 of the prompts. Not too shabby.
11. Pioneer Book Reading Challenge: This fun prompt-based challenge is hosted by Pioneer Book in Provo, Utah, but it's open to non-residents. If you complete the challenge, you get a gift certificate toward buying more books there (in-store only), which is awesome. Even though me and/or my husband was in Provo several times this year, I just didn't get around to finshing this one. Oh well.
12. Support Book Bloggers Challenge: I love the idea of this challenge, but I didn't get around to doing most of the tasks this year. Oops!
13. Medical Examiner Mystery Reading Challenge: Another mystery challenge, this one involves counting up the dead bodies in the books you read. Morbid? Yes. Also fun. I ended up tying 303 "toe tags" this year. As of now, I'm in 13th place. I'll take it!
Of the 13 reading challenges I took on, I totally rocked 5 of them, completing all the required tasks/prompts. I did pretty well with 5 more and was complete rubbish at the last 3. All in all, not too shabby. I'll be a little more conservative with the levels I choose in my 2023 challenges. Ha ha.
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1. Bookish Books Reading Challenge: Of course, I'm planning to do my own challenge! I'm going to go with the highest level, too, because why not? So, I'll be "Living in the Library" by reading 30+ books about books. Sweet!
2. Literary Escapes Reading Challenge: Once again, I'll be taking on the task of reading books set in all 50 U.S. states plus Washington, D.C. You get bonus points for each foreign country you visit as well. This is a fun one, even if some of the states are really hard to find. I'm looking at you, Arkansas and North Dakota!
3. Historical Fiction Reading Challenge: I love hist-fic, so this one shouldn't be much of a challenge. Still, I'm going to dial myself back a little and do the "Ancient History" level, which requires reading 25 historical novels.
4. POPSUGAR Reading Challenge: Will 2023 be the year I actually complete this challenge? We'll see.
5. Booklist Queen Reading Challenge: This will be my third year for this challenge, which I always enjoy.
6. 52 Book Club Reading Challenge: I think this will be the third year for this one as well.
7. Build Your Library Reading Challenge: Since I had fun with this one in 2022, I'm signing up again in 2023. This year's prompts all follow an "Adventures in Science and Nature" theme. Not my favorite kind of reading, but the prompts are general enough that I should do fine.
8. Pioneer Book Reading Challenge: My husband and/or I will be in Provo at least once this year, so I'm going to give this one a go. I've yet to actually complete it, but it's still fun to try.
9. Craving for Cozies Reading Challenge: I'm still enjoying my cozies, so I'm going to do this one again. I'll join at the "Peckish" level again, so I'll be reading 1-25 cozies. No problem!
10. Medical Examiner Mystery Challenge: Playing M.E. is always a good time, so I'll be doing it again in 2023.
11. Book Bingo Blackout—I've never done this one before, but I love me a bingo-style challenge! The theme of this year's board is "School." I'll go for a blackout, naturally.
12. Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge—Another new one for me, this one involves choosing prompts from 27 topics (each of which has five categories). I think I'm going to go for the "52 Pick Up" level, which requires reading from two categories in each topic, with the use of one wildcard. Sounds fun!
13. Children's Book Reading Challenge...for Adults—I already read a lot of children's books, but why not encourage myself to read more? This challenge is simple. You just read books that could be found in the children's section of a library or bookstore. Easy cheesy.
Whew! Are you overwhelmed yet? Me too. Seriously, though, I'm looking forward to tackling all these. My idea of a good time, yes sirree! (Is it any wonder my kids think I don't know what fun is?)
Are you taking on any reading challenges this year? If you need some ideas, look here:
(from Girl XOXO)
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2026 Goodreads Reading Challenge
2024 - Elementary/Middle Grade Nonfiction
2023 - Middle Grade Fiction
2022 - Middle Grade Fiction
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